ESPN Ranks all 75 NCAA National Championship teams

[UConn Esq]

http://espn.go.com/ncb/feature/video/_/page/Top75champions/ncaa-75-college-basketball

2011 team was ranked #55
2004 team was ranked #26
1999 team was ranked #15

Nice article if you want to kill some time. Thought the 2004 team would be ranked even better..

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

I would have thought the 2011 team would have been ranked better based on the fact of how magical the run was

 

[upstater]

2004 team was dominant.
Underrated

 

[patrick]

I would have thought the 2011 team would have been ranked better based on the fact of how magical the run was

I think the fact that the final against butler was such an ugly game for everybody except UCONN to watch hurt us there.

 

[HooperScooper]

The 2004 team was probably better, definitely more overall talent, but remember they lost 6 games during the season while the 1999 team only lost twice.

 

[Marat]

The 2004 team was probably better, definitely more overall talent, but remember they lost 6 games during the season while the 1999 team only lost twice.

That's right. Based on overall record the 1999 team was best. On paper 2004 was better.

People are forgetting how tough it was to beat the 1999 team. They lost to Miami by 2 pts, and lost to Cuse when both Hamilton and Voskhul were not playing (injured). They were #1 for more than 50% of the season.

 

[hungry husky]

2004 team had very good point guard play, unreal shooters, and a formidable front line. I have hard time believing they weren't one the 10 best championship teams of all time.

 

[upstater]

The 2004 team was probably better, definitely more overall talent, but remember they lost 6 games during the season while the 1999 team only lost twice.

They lost most of those games, though, when Okafor was gimpy. I saw one game at MSG against Georgia Tech. When Okafor wasn't in there, they didn't look the same. Tech beat them. Just like Okafor in the F4 against Duke had maybe a +15.

 

[hungry husky]

Who would win between 99 and 04. My money is on 04.

 

[Ts5034]

That's right. Based on overall record the 1999 team was best. On paper 2004 was better.

People are forgetting how tough it was to beat the 1999 team. They lost to Miami by 2 pts, and lost to Cuse when both Hamilton and Voskhul were not playing (injured). They were #1 for more than 50% of the season.

You know i always think about how close that 99 team came from being undefeated. Not a lot of people realize one loss was without 2 of our 5 starters and the other was a last possession game vs Miami. Anyway as far as this ranking goes, not bad that 2 of our 3 championships are in the top 50%.

 

[djct1999]

The 2004 team had everything a college team could possibly have.

 

[B1GEast]

!the 2004 team was lights out, should be much higher

 

[Fishy]

The 2004 team is underrated. They were preseason #1, but had a few bad losses where Okafor was hurt or they just simply didn't play very well.

When they were on, they were monsters - they had foul trouble against Duke, but it's hard to remember a team that went through the NCAA tournament as easily as the 2004 team.

They atomized teams - five of their six games were completely over before the half.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I honestly think the 2006 team may have been better than them all.

I hate that they didn't win it all. They all had the $$$on their minds early.

As for 04...The only thing that lost that team any games was Emeka's bad back.

 

[superjohn]

The 04 team when fully healthy and engaged was a wrecking crew, without Oak getting called for 2 bogus fouls at the start of the Duke game we would have ran them out of the building, we demolished everyone else that tournament, The 99 team lost to Syracuse when Rip and Jake were out, not positive on this but I think Jake was out for the Miami loss too, that team had a very good chance of going undefeated with a full lineup. It was ridiculous that Duke was a 10 point favorite in the title game, I told anyone that would listen that we were going to beat them.

 

[Horatio]

Who would win between 99 and 04. My money is on 04.

Ricky Moore was a good on the ball defender but I can't see him keeping Taliek in front of him and Ben would give him fits.

 

[patrick]

They lost most of those games, though, when Okafor was gimpy. I saw one game at MSG against Georgia Tech. When Okafor wasn't in there, they didn't look the same. Tech beat them. Just like Okafor in the F4 against Duke had maybe a +15.

I was at that game too it was the preseason nit tournament I think. They looked awful that game but luckily it was early in the season.

 

[superjohn]

I was at the Georgia Tech game too, think it was the first game of the season, we all drove back to CT. pissed but we all still felt confident we would win it all.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Ricky Moore was a good on the ball defender but I can't see him keeping Taliek in front of him and Ben would give him fits.

Are you serious? Ricky Moore was a GREAT on ball defender and he would have shut down Taliek and would have probably cut Ben's production in half. Ricky Moore as a senior was the best defender I ever saw wear a UConn uniform by a large margin. He was tough as nails and had a killer focus. It could be argued that he was MVP in the title game, as great as Rip was overall. He made a defensive stop on a really good offensive player all by himself to win the game for us. He played it absolutely perfectly and Langdon ended up traveling. Who could make a play like that on any of our teams since then? No one.

While '04 had the better overall talent, mainly in the person of Emeka, I could easily see '99 winning based on how mentally tough they were, as well as how well they played as a team. Jake would have played much better defense against Emeka than any of the Dookies.

 

[conn man]

I still wonder what if Donyell played his senior season. The '95 team would be on that list IMO

 

[selles]

Are you serious? Ricky Moore was a GREAT on ball defender and he would have shut down Taliek and would have probably cut Ben's production in half. Ricky Moore as a senior was the best defender I ever saw wear a UConn uniform by a large margin. He was tough as nails and had a killer focus. It could be argued that he was MVP in the title game, as great as Rip was overall. He made a defensive stop on a really good offensive player all by himself to win the game for us. He played it absolutely perfectly and Langdon ended up traveling. Who could make a play like that on any of our teams since then? No one.

While '04 had the better overall talent, mainly in the person of Emeka, I could easily see '99 winning based on how mentally tough they were, as well as how well they played as a team. Jake would have played much better defense against Emeka than any of the Dookies.

Great post. 2004 was tremendous, but if aliens were invading the earth and we needed 1 team to defend us, give me '99.

 

[Scoe]

I do believe the 04 team paced themselves, when they went through their losses during the year you were frustrated but not worried you knew they would be there in the end. They definetly were better then the 09 UNC team, since their has been talk about having a healthy Dyson being good enough to beat UNC that year should end all discussion when comparing them to the 04 Uconn team.

The 99 team was as much a veteran team that your ever gonna find at the collegiate level. They were tough as nails and the guys on that team looked older then they were.

 

[conn man]

The 2004 team is underrated. They were preseason #1, but had a few bad losses where Okafor was hurt or they just simply didn't play very well.

When they were on, they were monsters - they had foul trouble against Duke, but it's hard to remember a team that went through the NCAA tournament as easily as the 2004 team.

They atomized teams - five of their six games were completely over before the half.

The elite 8 game against Alabama sticks out in my mind during that run. Mr Okafor invited more than half the Crimson Tide to his personal block party.

 

[zls44]

The forgotten game in 2004 was the third-place preseason NIT game against Utah, with Andrew Bogut. That was a friggin mauling. I think UConn won by ten thousand.

 

[superjohn]

Are you serious? Ricky Moore was a GREAT on ball defender and he would have shut down Taliek and would have probably cut Ben's production in half. Ricky Moore as a senior was the best defender I ever saw wear a UConn uniform by a large margin. He was tough as nails and had a killer focus. It could be argued that he was MVP in the title game, as great as Rip was overall. He made a defensive stop on a really good offensive player all by himself to win the game for us. He played it absolutely perfectly and Langdon ended up traveling. Who could make a play like that on any of our teams since then? No one.

While '04 had the better overall talent, mainly in the person of Emeka, I could easily see '99 winning based on how mentally tough they were, as well as how well they played as a team. Jake would have played much better defense against Emeka than any of the Dookies.

I agree with you on Ricky, he was the best defender in the country and he was great in the title game those 13 points in the first half were huge but Rip had to be the MVP, he was easily the best player on the court and every single time we needed a bucket Rip got it.